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Saturday, June 27, 2009

On our final day at Friedrichshafen, we went to the Das Restaurant located in the Zeppelin Museum for lunch. Friedrichshafen is best known for being the home to the Zeppelin airship company, so naturally there is a museum for visitors to learn more about the history of Zeppelins.

The interior of the restaurant is modern and pictures of Zeppelins fill the walls. As it was a hot and sunny day, we opted to sit outside on the balcony. We had a fabulous view of Lake Constance and the Friedrichshafen Moleturm from where we were sitting.

The view

The menu comprises of less than 20 items and surprisingly, there is no English menu here. Thankfully, Bro translated some of the dishes for us. We each opted for a different soup for our starter. I had the creamy asparagus soup with croutons, which was well, creamy. With every spoonful of soup, I got a bite of the lovely "spargel" (white asparagus).

Hubby had the carrot and ginger soup with croutons, which was also very creamy. All soup served with warm bread and butter.

Bro had the clear beef broth with some flzdle (thin crispy egg strips), strips of carrot and garnished with chives. This was the nicest tasting soup out of the 3 - very flavoursome.

Since fish is in abundance and fresh in Friedrichshafen, Hubby and I ordered fish for our main course. White fish from Lake Constance is popular, so I had the felchen fillet served with baked courgettes, asparagus and mash potatoes. Hubby had the '3 types of fish' dish, served with boiled potatoes, carrots and another unidentified root vegetable.

Bro had rump steak cooked medium with a herb crust (Friedrichshafen chefs sure have a thing for herb crust, although I think this one complimented the steak quite well) served with sauteed potatoes and vegetables.

Friday, June 26, 2009

We were on holiday in Friedrichshafen, Germany and this restaurant came highly recommended on the Friedrichshafen official website.

The Goldenes Rad is the only restaurant in Friedrichshafen to be featured in the gourmet bible Gault Millau 2009 and was awarded 14 points and a chefs hat. It is located in the Best Western Hotel Goldenes Rad. This restaurant specialises in fish / seafood and regional specialties and boasts a selected wine menu. Fresh produce from the region are used (so, menu may differ from time to time) and they are mostly bio-cultivated (this is big in Germany).

Just briefly on Gault Millau - it is one of the most influential French restaurant guides and is rated on a scale of 1 to 20 (20 being the highest). The points are awarded strictly based on quality of food ONLY. To read more on Gault Millau, click here.

The maitre'd was very polite and spoke good English. He recommended the gourmet menu to us, which I instantly said yes to since it had my favorite, lamb and scallops. Bro and Hubby went for the same, plus the wine menu that came with it.

First up was the amuse bouche, which was seared tuna. I like the texture of the tuna and it was still pink in the middle :-) The sprinkles you see on the plate are dried flower petals, which was more for presentation than taste.

For starters, we were served goats cheese fritters with thyme honey on a rocket salad in fig mustard dressing. The goats cheese fritters was really nice. Because it is lightly fried, it is crunchy on the outside but still very soft in the inside. Delicious! (Wine served with this dish: 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Weingut Aufricht, Meersburg - local wine)

Our second starter or "fish" dish is fried scallops on Mediterranean vegetables salad and basilpesto (what the menu called it). I really looked forward to this dish and happy to say, it tasted lovely! A thick piece of scallop lightly grilled and placed on top of what tasted like ratatouille to me. I sometimes wish restaurants wouldn't be so stingy with the scallops! I want more. (Wine: 2006 Pinot Gris Bodega Lurton, Argentina)

Next, our main course - saddle of lamb in a herb crust with green beans, thyme sauce and gnocchi. Sadly, this was my least favorite dish of the night. The lamb was actually cooked really nice but I really disliked the herb crust, which was way too overpowering for the dish. (Wine: 2004 Rioja Crianza El Meson, Spain)

Saturday, June 13, 2009

The original stall is at the Seremban Central Market (Pasar Besar Seremban), started over 60 years ago by Goh Hian Hai. In 1979, they opened their second restaurant 'King's Beef Noodle Restaurant '(located at Jalan Dr Krishnan) and in 2003, opened another restaurant at Kemayan Square called Quinn's Restaurant. The latter is the one we frequent.

My favorite is the dry beef noodles, although there is also a soup version available. The noodles are home-made daily by the family and does not contain any preservative. The origins of the noodle recipe can be traced all the way back to Goh's home village of Hainan Island. The springy noodles are topped with slices of beef tendon, tripe and lean meat and finally a special gravy. The thick, spice-laden gravy is made by braising beef for hours.

Mix everything together and voila, a tasty bowl of beef noodles! You will also be served a small bowl of soup, made from beef and preserved salted vegetable (kiam chai) - I just love the taste.

Comfort: Clean and air-conditioned.Food rating: Very good. Try also the beef meatballs.Price: RM6 per bowl.Service: Very good. Efficient.

Friday, June 12, 2009

So when Hubby offered to dine me at Gonbei in Starhill Gallery, I said YES!

The name Gonbei is that of a typical farmer from ancient Japan, who has that deep-seated spirit of warm hospitality characteristic of the whole country. I loved the bamboo structured restaurant entrance, which is based on a traditional farmhouse, symbolising vitality.

I like the wooden carvings on the wall

There are 5 different counters, namely teppanyaki, sushi, robatayaki, tempura and sake and the restaurant is based on an open kitchen concept (which I like cos I get to watch the chefs in action).

We ordered the Hana Set so that we could try a little bit of everything from the counters (except Sake). We were served complimentary green tea. We didn't have to wait long for the first dish to arrive.

Crab meat with potato salad doesn't sound like much but I was surprised at how tasty this dish was. We were also served edamame (baby soybeans in the pod), which I snacked on while waiting for the next dish to arrive.

My favorite dish of the night - five varieties of sashimi. It's easy to see why - it looks beautiful on the plate plus it was really yummy and fresh! I loved the thick slices of sashimi. Air flown all the way from Japan! It was my first time eating urchin too - I didnt really expect it to taste sweet but nice nonetheless!

Next up, grilled eel (unagi) which is a must-have for my Hubby whenever we dine at a Japanese restaurant.

From the teppanyaki counter, we got the choice of either Wagyu sirloin or assorted seafood. I really wanted the Wagyu but Hubby wanted the assorted seafood option as it had scallops, prawns and fish in it. I gave in. It was nice, but I was still fantasizing of the Wagyu. Never mind, there's always next time.

We were served garlic fried rice, miso soup, grilled sweet corn, and pickles with the assorted seafood teppanyaki. We finished everything except for the rice and sweet corn.

To finish our meal, we had green tea ice-cream and fresh fruits.

The food at Gonbei is really delicious and very fresh. I read later on that Gonbei offers the most authentic Japanese cuisine in Malaysia and this dining experience is not seen in any other Asian capital city outside of Tokyo except for Gonbei in KL.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Dad has been telling us about this award-winning Chinese restaurant in Nilai, Loon Sing for some time. We felt it was too far to drive all the way to Nilai just to have a meal. But, one day, we had to pick The Unc up from KLIA airport and we would have to pass the restaurant on our way back. The restaurant is conveniently located, about 200m from the Nilai toll.

For starter, we shared a bowl of "Buddha jumps over the wall' (RM59) - it was hearty and delicious. We also ordered the Chef's Special Seafood Shark's Fin (RM20) which had ample amount of sea cucumber and high quality shark's fin (not like the usual starchy shark's fin soup you get in certain restaurants).

Buddha jumps over the wall

Chef's special shark's fin soup

We ordered the award-winning Dongpo pork (RM38 for small portion). The pork was delicious -sticky and sweet and is served with mantou (steamed buns).

Since this restaurant specialises in Fuzhou food, we ordered the 'Halogen Duck Fuzhou style' (RM38 for 1/2 duck). It is served with century egg on the side. For me, this dish lacked in flavour.

Since I love scallops, we ordered stir fry brocolli with scallops (RM38 for large). The scallops were fresh and the brocolli still had a nice crunch to it.

To finish off our meal, we ordered egg tarts from their dim sum menu. It was simply delicious - wondefully flaky crust with a very nice filling. I wanted more after I finished one!

We didn't try anything else from the dim sum menu as we were too full. However, we would return another weekend to try it.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

This time, he brought us some Royce Milk Chocolate Selection. Last time, he bought us the Royce Potechi (chocolate biscuits which looks like potato chips) which was really yum. So I was really looking forward to try this box of chocolate.

The chocolate is rich, however I can't really taste the difference between Spicy, Deep, Fruity or Nutty Milk.

The last time I was at Isetan KLCC, I stumbled across a Royce chocolate shop near the supermarket section. So, Royce lovers out there, you can indulge in their scrumptious chocolate without having to fly to Japan to get some.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

If you fancy something different, try this family-run Korean restaurant, Jade Dragon (Da Chang Jin) which serves very healthy and delicious food. We stumbled across this restaurant one morning after we had breakfast at Woon Peng.

After placing our order, we were served steam egg (complimentary) cooked in a stone pot and an assortment of side dishes (banchan). Banchan is the favorite part of my Korean meal; kimchi is served everytime whilst other side dishes may vary.

One of my favorite dishes here is the beef bulgogi (RM35). This is basically marinated beef pan fried with straw mushrooms, onions, glass noodles and spring onions. This dish is served with lettuce, raw garlic and green chillies and ssamjang (thick spicy paste) and you can wrap some beef in the lettuce. The last time we were here, the Korean lady boss told us that we could put some boiled rice in the wrap too. The beef is full of flavour - lovely!

There are 8 soup based dishes served here. Mum's favorite here is the kimchi jigae (RM15). It's a stew / soup made with kimchi, pork, tofu and glass noodles and served in a stone pot. One of the spicier dishes. Served with rice.

Bro's favorite is the dwenjang jigae (RM15), which is soup made with bean paste, tofu, la la (clams), and vegetable.

There are 5 seafood dishes; amongst them are Mae-un-tang (Korean Cod fish stew), Hae-Mul-Tang (Korean style seafood), and Nak-Ji Bo-Kum (stir fry octopus - RM25). I've only tried the latter octopus dish, which is served on a grill plate and cooked in a tomato based sauce. For me, this dish is just so-so, but my friends really like it.

I would also recommend the dolsot bibimbap (RM16); white rice served in a stone pot topped with zuchinni, straw mushrooms, doraji (bellflower root), spinach, soybean sprouts, gochujang (chilli pepper paste) and a raw egg. Mix them together and the raw egg will cook against the sides of the hot stone bowl. The best bit is the layer of rice touching the bottom of the pot which is golden brown and crispy.

You will be served complimentary water at the start of the meal. At the end of the meal, you will be served free dessert - watermelon and sik hye (rice/barley drink).

When you spend above RM50, you will receive a RM5 voucher which can be redeemed on a weekday.

The lady boss is very friendly, sometimes she even offers to babysit our baby whilst we eat! I really like the food here.